Animade showcases new, appealing interactive web game-experiment

Everyone’s favourite London animation studio, Animade, has created an interactive web experiment called Party Pooper. The aim of the fun, simple game is to remove the bunch of strange guests within the room, using the various tools laying around. The simple aim of the game is remisicent of many point-and-click online games.

The game consists of various characters that have simple “bopping” movements. This creates the characters to have a sense of likeable characteristics, combined with the simple shape and bold colours. The animations for each character’s removal from the room is also thoughtfully creative, so the viewer is actively engaged with it. The user has simple tasks of using the various tools to clear the room, and such tools include scissors, duct tape and a hammer.

“Designed and animated by Animade’s own Milo Targett, the characters are simple yet brilliant — just block-colour shapes given heaps of personality via their subtly different eyes and ways of moving. Development was by Simon Neveu. The backing tracks by Prince Lucien and Big Cool Slug are the icing on the cake.“

What I can take from Animade’s fun and playful web experiment game for inspiration into my own work is the consistent use of colour, shape and character design, which is consistently used throughout many of Animade’s projects. Utilising this consistency helps build up the design style prescence of the studio, and makes it easily and quickly recognisable for what studio the project has originated from. I could use this method of consistency into my own work and portfolio, so I can build my own design prescnece strongly with my own design style, thought, ideas and outputs.

Pitchfork introduces new logotype as well as redesigned website

The music website Pitchfork, reveals its launch of a complete new designed website, that overhauls the previous iteration which appeared in Autumn 2011. The new, clean website provides a fresh new user interface, that has made the visual appearance simplified and clear for the reader. The outcome of this new user interface provides the reader experience to be easier to function, as browsing, searching, listening and watching is simplified and easier to function. However, as well as with the new fresh user interface, Pitchfork has revealed a new logotype that is designed by Swiss type foundry, Grilli.

The user interface utilises a monochromatic colour palette, with full colour images. This choice of style provides the reader experience to be easy and concise to understand, as the content is equally spaced, making it not cramped. Another element that makes the new website design fluid with the simplified user interface, is the neat feature of having the navigation bar, search and listening feature, and hamburger menu scroll with the reader. This makes the navigation for the website easy and quick for the reader to use. This neat design element also applies with the listening feature, as when the reader uses this feature, it is located underneath the navigation bar, and scrolls with the reader.

One other nice design aspect that the new site incorporates is the hamburger menu. The hamburger menu provides almost the same content and links as the main navigation bar does, however, the hamburger menu contains a slight more detailed links for the main header links. This makes the user interface neat and direct for the reader to explore a detailed area from the main header links.

Condé Nast acquired Pitchfork Media last year in October. The presdient and chief executive Bob Sauerberg of Condé Nast said:

“Pitchfork is a distinguished digital property that brings a strong editorial voice, an enthusiastic and young audience, a growing video platform and a thriving events business.”

What I can take from Pitchfork’s newly designed website for inspiration, is the use of a fresh and simplified user interface, that successfully function and performs well for the reader. The user interface and user experience of a website is vital for the reader, and so Pitchfork’s new website is a great example of a website functioning and performing a easy and clear user interface and user experience. The colour styling of the website is simple and neat, it’s not too complicated with many colours. I can take this colour styling approach into my own work for web and user interface design.

As well as the simple colour scheming, I could also take the neat little features of the website into my own work. This includes the design elements of the hamburger menu, search and listening feature. These little design elements helps the overall user interface and experience succesfully well, as being a music website, it is expected to obtain a listening feature, as well as the standard search option.

The layout is also another aspect that I can take, as the website uses a section for featured and new articles, and a basic two column layout for articles, album reviews, latest music and so on. Utilising a two column layout can provide more information in a smaller space. I could use this type of layout for web design, as it is successful, and it works well for a successful and easy to understand user interface and experience.

For Parklife’s new festival appearance for 2016, Studio Moross have applied there distinctive, illustrative style. The new illustrated identity comprises of a Parklife festival universe, consisting of abnormal and creative characters, and a low gravity appearance.

Studio Moross designer Guy Field explains:

“The festival has been going for a while now and was in need of a big refresh, so we took it into space!”

Field continues:

“We created a mad illustrated Parklife universe, of crazy characters and wonky gravity.”

As well as print poster work, the studio also colloborated with animator Andy Baker to produce a promo video for the popular festival. It conveys a rocket ship travelling through the Parklife festival universe space, as the 2016 line-up gradually reveals for the viewer: Parklife Promo 2016.

The studio has also colloborated with Project Simply for the new website for the festival: Parklife. The new website continues the unqiue style across, and adds moving characters in space, and user interaction with the mouse, which makes the website engaging and fun, from just a box standard website.

The use of colours for this new identity design are sublte and calming. The studio used a limited palette of colours, which makes the design controlled and consisting throughout the different formats that the illustrated identity flows through.

The use of funky and crazy characters makes the new identity fun and playful. This creates a expectation for the viewer about attending the festival to have fun, feel good and experience a great time attending the popular festival.

The inspiration that I can take from this studio’s new work which I can use into my own, is the idea of the illustrated theme. This theme is used strongly across a range of different formats, and creates a playful and illustrative sense of feel towards the identity design.